Tales of Hogwarts: Snakes and Lions
by Typist Massacre
Summary: HP Con't Book 8: Albus watched as the dark figure approached them. Lenore was stricken with fear while Thomas gripped his sleeve tightly. "You," the figure whispered. "You have returned to lead us into darkness. The Dark Lord is reborn!" Albus/2OCs.R&R pl
1. Hogwarts Express

Aurthor's Note: I had fixed a few problems that were noticeable and changed something about George Jr's name. I fixed the eye colour problems with Albus and had officially changed J.R. into Jar with reason. Please R&R

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Albus boarded the train and looked back at his parents, just before the door closed. With smiling faces, they waved their son good-bye wishing him all the luck and happiness one could hope for their child. Albus nearly pressed his face against the glass as he watched his parent's smiling faces fade away to become apart of the mass that was their figure until even their outlines shrunk and disappeared from sight. The train jerked a little bit, forcing Albus to throw his arms out and grab hold of anything that would prevent him from falling.

"You plan on staying here for the entire ride?" James called out, passing by just as his brother had regained his balance.

"I was just saying bye to Mum and Dad," Albus snapped at his older brother, trying to act tough around him. James sighed and ruffled Al's hair before making his way back to his seat.

"Wait," Albus darted towards James, grabbing him by the cloak. "Where am I suppose to sit?" "Anywhere you want, really, as long as there's an empty spot.""Can I sit with you?""No," James replied sternly and ducked into one of the many cabins where he was greeted with the smiling faces of all his second year friends.

"

Why not?" protested Albus as he stood in the doorframe, glaring at James. Despite being brothers, the two boys had very different features, making it easy to tell them apart. James Sirius, the older of the two, was born with his father's jet black hair and his mother's blue grey eyes. His hair was always kept short and, much like his father, needed glasses to correct his vision. His cheeks were decorated lightly with a few freckles but not enough to look out of place. Albus on the other hand, was born with more Weasley features. His face was nearly covered with freckles and his firey red hair was unmanageable, sticking out at all ends. The one thing he had gotten from his father though was his piercing green eyes that shone like emeralds. The structure of his nose was lightly thinner compared to James as well, but in the end they were related.

"Albus," James sighed and approached the sliding door, standing nearly an inch away from his brother, "go find some first years to be friends with." With that, the door slid shut and Albus couldn't help but watch his brother return to his friend's side as they laughed and giggled about things. Feeling rejected, Albus made his way down the narrow hallway, darting his eyes back and forth, trying to find a place that appeared vacant. Hopelessness was starting to set in, as he found that nearly all the compartments were already full of students chatting away and catching up with each other. Discussing things they had done and places they had visited over the summer holidays. Approaching the end of the first trolly car, Albus was caught off guard when a pair of arms reached out and grabbed him from the side. Startled, he gave a short scream before he was forced into a dark cabin and the door slid shut soon after. A hand was held over his mouth as the other stranger's arm was wrapped around his waist, holding him down and firmly into place.

"Say Uncle," the voice growled as Albus thrashed about. Eventually he managed to hit his abductor hard enough for the stranger to let go of him. Bolting up, Albus groped around bindly looking for the light to reveil his attacker's face. A thin string hung from the roof. Quickly and desperately, Albus pulled it and light flooded into the small cabin. Was a girl giggling so hard, she had to cover her mouth with her hand as to not discrupt the other cabins with her laughter and a boy who was rubbing his jaw. "Holy, Albus. I didn't think you'd flip out that much," the boy groaned. He was the same age as Albus but had a sleeker, thinner build. His short black hair appeared to absorb all light and his face was long and narrow. Looking up with almond shaped eye, he met Albus' with his own dull green ones.

"Thomas, you git!" Albus tackled the boy and the two wrestled for a bit on the seat, with Thomas laughing and mocking Albus about how scared. Albus on the other hand, attacking the other with no excuse for his actions.

At his point, the girl couldn't hold back her laughter anymore and shrieked at the sight before her. The boys stopped their horse playing and Albus shoved Thomas a final time before looking at the new face. "Who are you?"

Recovering from the attack, Thomas turned to the stranger and introduced her, "Albus, this is Lenore." He was still short of breath but one deep breath and exhale soon cured that. The girl faced Albus and held out her hand, very properly. Her hair was white blond, easily matching the colour of her pale skin. Yet despite her pale features, her eyes were a very dark and heavy, chestnut colour. Her hair was kept loose and fell straight all the way down her back. Her nose was small and her eyes were not completely open, giving her a very drowsy appearance.

"It's very nice to meet you, Albus," she softly replied as their hands shook.

"It's nice to meet you too. How did you two meet?"

Thomas opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Lenore, who smiled softly and her voice carried a chirp,

"Oh he offered a seat to me. All the other cabins were either filled or people who obviously knew each other. It would have felt very awkward being in a room of people who didn't know who you were."

Albus couldn't help but to just nod in agreement. He had found himself in the exact same place when he was walking through the train car. All those students talking with each other, laughing and gossiping until -

"That's right," he shouted and stared down Thomas, who was looking through a bag to see if he could find anything to eat.

"Why did you decide to abduct me like that? Wouldn't have been easier to just open the door and say 'Hey, get in here'?" Fishing out a tangerine, Thomas shook his head as he began to peel the tiny fruit.

"What fun would that have been? Besides, I needed to get you back after what you pulled on me in the summer when we were exploring in the old woods."

Albus opened his mouth to rebuttal against Thomas' excuse when Lenore leaned forward, placing her chin on her hands as the elbows rested on her raised knees.

"You two seem very close. How long have you known each other?"

Lost for words, Albus turned to Thomas just as he was doing the same thing and together they sat staring at each other for a moment, perplexed and counting the years that have passed since they first met.


	2. Birthday Presents

Though it happened when they were young, Albus could vividly remember the day they first met in the old woods just at the end of the neighbourhood street. It was the eve of his sixth birthday when his mother was running around the house, doing her best to organize the house and get everything ready for the birthday party the following day. James was out in the back with their father as the two cleaned out the backyard. Of course, on occasion, his father would use magic to lift and move heavy things out of the way only when necessary.

His father never believed that one should abuse the power of magic to do trivial things that one could do with their own strength and wits. Albus had always though it was rather strange belief because compared to his mother, magic was always the answer. I guess that's how being raised in a muggle family as opposed to a wizarding one would mould how you see the world. His sister Lily was in the kitchen with mom, trying to help out but proving to be more of a hurricane than anything else. Between running back and forth to the refrigerator, checking the cookbook's cake recipe and a million other things, cleaning up after Lily would have easily made any normal mother go berserk. Not Mrs. Potter though, she would simply wave her wand and the mess would clean itself up. Just when Albus was about to head upstairs to his bedroom, two identical faces popped up from the corner.

"Happy Birthday Albi," the slightly taller one said as the other handed Albus a small box. "

It's not my birthday yet guys," Albus replied and hesitant about grabbing the box from Fred's hand. These were his cousins.

If it hadn't been for the fact that George Jr. was slightly taller and Fred had a little more blonde in his hair, they would have been impossible to tell apart. For a while, George had been called J.R. instead his entire name but it had gotten to a point where he and his brother were getting yelled at so much, the letters were slurred together into "Jar" instead. Uncle George and Auntie Namena had arrived earlier that day via floo powder .

"What you waiting for Albi, take your present," Fred pushed on and wiggled the small box. "How do I know it's not one of Uncle George's old prank candies again?"

With bright red hair and mischievous grins, the twins leaned in. George looked around, keeping guard as Fred leaned in the closest and whispered into Albus' ear.

"It's a key to an old abandoned house in the heart of the old woods."

Albus' eyes lit up as each word slipped through his cousin's lips and into his brain. An old abandoned house? Maybe it was like the old house his father mentioned in a bedtime story about a house that was placed on the other side of a tunnel, hidden beneath a large willow tree. The tree was like a gatekeeper, coming to life when people got too close to the tunnel.

"Is there really one?" Albus shouted excitedly. Jar shushed him quickly and placed a finger over his lips. "Do you want everyone to know about it?" Shaking his head, Albus took the box from Fred and opened it. Inside laid an old, black key that was scratched up and beginning to rust on the corners. His eyes widened when he looked at it, if the key in the box had been true then the house had to exist! "Can you take me there now?" Albus whispered excitedly and nearly hopped on the spot, clutching the key tightly in his small hands.

The twins looked at each other before smiling once more and nodding.

"One exception-""-we can't leave now-"

"No, no. Too risky-"

"-will have to leave later-"

"-much later."

"When the sun goes down-""-and not a minute after-""-we'll be waiting for you-""-by the shed in the backyard.""But remember-""-tell no one."

Along with their tricks, Fred and Jar had a habit of moving back and forth between each other to finish an entire thought. Albus nodded and passed by them to run up to his bedroom. When he reached his door, he looked down at the black key in his hand and pocketed it quickly. The day was still young and nightfall was a long ways off. The rest of the day was going to be excruciatingly long and unbearable.

Inside his bedroom, he headed for the bed and got down on his knees to look under the bed. He had to check under there every time he went inside because their might be bogarts or nargles in there. He had never heard of a nargles until they had gotten a visit from his parent's friends one summer. The most he could remember about her was that she smelled funny and she had no shoes.

She would talk about all the animals she got to see on her trips, especially the scary ones like bogarts and erkling. When he asked about the smell, the lady, Luna was what his parents addressed her as, would explain how it would keep nargles away. When she said that, her parents laughed nervously. This could have mean one of two things. Either nargles was a funny word or they were so terrifying that it made adults laugh to show they're not scared in front of their kids. When Albus looked under the bed, all he saw was a couple of toys and a butter beer cork that was left under there for too keep them away (it was a gift from the lady just before she left).

Reasured there was nothing there, Albus stood up and walked over to his dresser. In there were many things. More toys, old candy that he had gotten from the twins he didn't trust, occasionally clothes, and a spool of yarn. He grabbed the spool and pulled at the yarn until he was satisfied with the length before taking a pair of scissors and cutting it. With that, Albus slipped the yarn through the key's handle and tied the loose ends together. With the necklace done, he slipped it over his head and tucked the key inside his shirt before heading back downstairs.

His dad was back inside and helping mom out with the cooking while his Uncle George watched his siblings and cousins in the living room. Auntie Namena was using her hat to hide her face the best she could because the morning they had left for the Potter's, Fred and Jar had spiked her tea with boil juice. Of course she was mad at them but she was madder at her husband for giving the boys old trick candy recipes for their ninth birthday. Albus joined the rest of the kids just when the fireplace began to glow emerald green once more. Harry and Ginny called all the kids back, to make room for the new guests arriving.

Through the green flames walked out a family of four. "Uncle Ron!" the Potter and Weasley boys ran up and hugged him while Lily shouted out Hermione's name and did the same for her. Close behind them, two identical but miniature sized figures of their parents, were arguing about something. "Hugo you idiot, how can he possibly in two places at the same time," Rose rolled her eyes as she walked away from him. Hugo made a face behind her back just as Hermione caught him doing so.

The adults visited for a few hours as the kids ran around and played outside. It was getting darker outside but none of the kids seemed to mind, none except Albus that is. Albus ran up to the twins as the two were poking at a gnome that had gotten itself trapped in one of the many live traps that were hidden in and around the garden.

"Hey, do you think its dark enough?"

"Not dark enough yet-""-probably in another hour."Albus groaned and kicked a weed in disappointment. He was about to turn around and head back when JR spoke up, that mischievous tone in his voice making itself known once more. "Of course we could start to go now. An hour should be more than enough."Fred had caught on and smiled, "Yes, by the time we get there it would be sundown, wouldn't it?"

Excited, Albus ran up to them and took out the key from inside his shirt, "And I've already got the key with me so there's no need to go inside. No one will know we're gone. The twins looked over to the other kids and saw how they were all busy. James was showing off his Chocolate frogs to Hugo while Rose and Lily were hidden in the garden. Silently, Fred, J.R. and Albus ran off and headed towards the old woods at the end of the neighbourhood street.

The trip to the end of the street took under ten minutes but for Albus to gather his courage to step inside after dark would have took him an entire day, had it not been for the fact he had the key hanging from his neck. Fred turned and faced Albus when they reached the edge of the woods, "You sure you want to go in there-""Because once we step in-"

"we're not walking out."Albus pulled out the necklace and clutched the key tightly before looking up at the twins, his eyes burning with determination. The twins shrugged their shoulders and the three of them began their journey to the heart of the old woods.

A fog began to sweep over the ground, making it hard for the boys to see where they were placing their feet. The entire trip was made in silence, with the twins leading the way and Albus looking around, his eyes darting from side to side. The further they went inside, the more Albus became more jittery, remembering all the tales Luna told his parents. What if they came face to face with a Centaur? Or stepped on an Ashwinder? Or stumbled across a nest of Nargles? "I should have brought my butterbeer cork," he whined and picked up the pace so he was directly behind Fred and Jar.

"What would a butter beer cork do for you?" Jar said, over hearing the boy. Embarrassed and not wanting to tell them about the nargles, Albus followed them in silence. The sun was long gone and the canopy blackened the sky with its sea of leaves, though some holes in the canopy allowed rays of moonlight to hit the fog, illuminating the mist. Owls hooted, signalling that night had arrived.

"There it is," Jar whispered and stopped. Had Albus not been paying attention, he would have clearly bumped into the boy. Looking out through the gap between them, in the distance an old house stood, clearly out of place in the thick of the woods. It was made of dark wood that was covered in patches of green on the corners of the roof and parts of the walls. A porch had began to settle and pieces of wood hung loosely from what was left of the stair railing. Had it not been for the moonlight, the Enterance would have been lost in a black shadow. From the roof, dead leaves laid there, rotting away with the rest of the building and a battered chimney stuck out of the centre. The windows were covered in dust, some glass having been broken and shattered by rocks thrown by previous children who had stumbled across it.

"What are you waiting for Albi-"

"-go in."

Albus blinked and looked at the two, stricken with fear, "You guys are not coming with me?"

"Of course not."

"Besides, only the one-"

"-who holds the key-"

"-is allowed in."

"That means-"

"-it's you, Albi."

Albus' hand trembled but the key seemed to have a power of its own. No matter how scared he was, the key was telling him to go inside. Slowly, Albus walked towards the house. A cold sweat ran down his body and his eyes were wide open, too afraid to blink because having them close for that split second would give whatever was inside enough time to sneak up and attack him. Carefully, he made his way up the rickety stairs, hearing the wood creek and settle under his weight. The door was large and black, not colours on it at all with the exception of a tarnished brass doorknob. Opening his hand, Albus finally registered just how afraid he was for the key had left an imprint in his hand, the cornered bits were red where the metal was cutting. Trying to calm himself down, he took a few deep breathes and gathered his courage and strength before approaching the door. He held the key and grabbed the doorknob with the other hand.

Slowly, he eased the key into the keyhole and turned, hearing the lock click and the door loosen. Albus pushed the door open, with the key still in the keyhole, and looked inside. It was just as dark as he had imaged it to be inside, making it hard to see anything at all. He turned around to face the twins, who hadn't moved an inch since he had approached the house. Fred and Jar encouraged him to go inside and telling him everything was fine with OK hand gestures and thumbs up. Not wanting to wuss out after getting this far, Albus walked inside.

With no light source to speak of in the enterance, Albus held out his hands and felt his way around. His hands had gotten caught up in some spider and cobwebs, making him pull back his hands and quickly rub them against his clothes, thinking about how gross it felt. His body shook with the eerie presence of this place until he found an empty room where a window allowed moonlight in. It was a dusty and barren place that had nothing inside at all with the exception of a black cloth that was bundled up in front of the window. It looked too tall to just be just the cloth itself, maybe it was covering something. Slowly, Albus approached it. The floor boards creaked with every step he took and the closer he got to the black mass, he further he stretched out his arm. When he was in arms reach, he grabbed the cloth and it moved.

The blood curdling scream ran throughout the house and pieced the night air. The twins screamed aloud, being startled themselves by the sound and instinctively ran from the house's presence. Leaving Albus there in the house with his own screams.

Another screamed followed and the two figures fell back and crawled backwards towards the opposing walls. Albus' heart raced so loud he could hear the blood pumping in his ears. His senses on full alert, he knew could not only hear his own breath and the functions of his body, but the heavy breathing of the figure on the other side. "Who are you?" The figure asked in a frightened tone, its voice young and cracking under its own fear.

"A-Albus. Albus Severus Potter," he replied carefully and slowly. "What about you?" The figure pulled the cloth off from over its head, unveiling the face of a young boy, approximately the same age. "Thomas Theodore Riddle," the boy replied and the two stared at each other while their bodies recovered from the shock. "What are you doing out in this house by yourself," Albus asked as he got to his feet, dusting himself off while the other boy got up and began to fold the large black cloth. "I'm bird watching," he remarked, in a tone that made it sound like the answer should have been obvious. "What about you? Why are you in my bird house?"

"Bird house?"Thomas shook his head and laid the blanket in front of the window, making a soft mat to sit on, "This is where I come to watch birds. I can't do any real bird watching at home because its mostly crows that fly around all the time." Nodding, Albus watched the boy pull out a pair of small binoculars from his shirt and peered through the large hole in the window. "Is it fun," Albus approached the boy and stepping into the blanket. "It can be. When you find a bird you don't see all the time, then it's really exciting." Lowering his binoculars, Thomas looked up to Albus and that was the first time their eyes met. "Do you want to watch the owls with me?" Albus nodded and joined Thomas on the blanket. As the hours passed, the boys had caught a number of owls hunting, even seeing a few catch small animals that were just beyond the window.

"Albus!" A voiced called out, startling the boys once more. "What was that," Thomas asked and watched Albus get up and head towards the door. "That sounds like Dad. Do you want to meet them?" Albus' smile soon faded when he noticed Tom had turned his attention back to the owls and continued to watch them hunt smaller creatures. Harry's voice rose out of the darkness once more, closer this time.

"Uh… do you come here all the time?" He asked the boy quietly.

"Sometimes. When I can," the other replied coldly, the close feeling they had earlier was starting to fade.

"Maybe I can meet you in here again," Albus leaned against the wall. He really didn't want to leave his new friend but he was probably in enough trouble as it is for running off into the woods without any of the adults knowing about it.

"I'll be here tomorrow," Thomas replied and faced Albus, placing the binoculars in his lap. Harry's voice was now just outside the house, accompanied by the voice of another male that was unmistakably his Uncle Ron's. "You better get going or else you'll be grounded and we won't be able to hang out tomorrow" and with that, Tom turned back to his bird watching.

The train jolted to the side once more, forcing Albus out of his memories. Tom had started to eat his tangerine and Lenore was still looking at them with that same drowsy smile. "Well," he finally spoke after losing track of time, "long enough."


	3. The Arrival

こんにちわ、みんあさん。わたしはのにべんごSFUだいがくてべんきょおします。

Yeah, show off. Let me hear read the hate caused by your jealousy. Bwahaha! Ok, so here's chapter two of my own HP continuation. It's rather depressing I haven't gotten any reviews yet but hopefully soon. R&R please.

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Hours had passed since Albus first boarded the train and now he, Thomas and Lenore, were almost waist deep in candy and goods that they had purchased off the trolly cart that had stopped by their cabin. To Lenore and Albus, this was a common thing to have candy leap at them and wither about between their fingers. Thomas though, he had a few experiences with Chocolate frogs and fizzy poppers but nothing to this extent. Biting off the head off a Skufferie Stretch Snake, a gummy kind of candy that stretches to nearly five feet long, Lenore looked up at Thomas, "So you're muggle born?" Thomas darted across his seat to grab his runaway frog. The chocolate creature struggled the best it could before Thomas bit off its legs. "Yeah,. I never could understand what Albus was talking about when he mentioned moving candy until he actually brought some to the house in the forest. Scared the gibbs outta me. What about you? Are your parents muggles or magic?"

"My father's a Wizard and my mother's a Witch. Though, my aunt and uncle on my father's side are muggles. So really I'm mix of both," she answered politely as she rolled the snake into a ball and taking bites out of the sphere.

The door slid open and a young boy popped his head in. He smiled at Albus warmly and the colour of his hair changed to match his expression, "We should be arriving at Hogwarts any time, Albus.""Thanks Teddy," he smiled and offered him a box of Bertty Botts Beans. The boy raised his hand and shook his head, "No thanks. I never liked those. Especially because you can never tell which colour is going to be what flavour. " "I know what you mean," Thomas spoke up and shivered. He was one of the unfortunate ones who had gotten a vomit flavoured bean on his first try.

"Ah," Teddy looked out the window and pointed at a dark castle figure in the distance, "There is it. Your new home." The three first years leaned up against the window and let small noises of awe escape their lips. Hogwarts castle, the very school their parents, with the exception of Thomas, had attended. None other than Albus was the most excited about it. This school was the place that helped his father become a powerful Auror and a wicked Quidditch player. But most of all, this was the place of his name sake. From what his father told him, he was named after two people who had once worked there and died all for his father's sake. Ever since he was told that, Albus had been very proud of his names and always wanted to walk through the halls they had once walked themselves. A loud whistle broke their moments of amazement, announcing that the train was to stop soon.

The train was still as the students loaded themselves off the train. It was easy to tell the first years apart from the other students for they were usually the most excited students on the platform. Albus hopped off before Thomas and Lenore. As he waited for them, he looked out and saw some very familiar faces. The boy from earlier, with the mood changing hair, had hopped off with his girlfriend, Victoria. She was as beautiful as an angel, or at least what he thought and angel would look like. In the distance, the mischievous and nearly identical bodies of Fred and Jar, stood around innocently but surely up to no good. James was still with his second year friends, chatting away. If it had not been for Thomas and Lenore, he would have felt completely left out and forgotten. Just as Tom and Lenore made it to Albus' side, a bellowing voice roared across the platform. "First years," the deep voice bellowed. "First years over 'ere!"

"Hagrid!" Albus smiled, his eyes lighting up like identical jewels. "My god, would you look at him," Thomas gasped at the emissive size of the man who seemed to tower over everything standing around him and taking up three times the space. "Is he like, a special needs person or a Wildman with his hair all like that?""You haven't met Hagrid before Tom," Albus turned to him. "Dad, Mom, James, Lily and I would go to his hut on occasion and play. Mostly in the summer because there's never enough room for all of us. Come on I'll introduce you to him!" Albus grabbed Tom's hand and walked up a bit before looking back at Lenore who hadn't moved an inch.

"Lenore," Albus looked at her confused, "are you coming?"She smiled and shook her head with the same drowsy eyed look, "I'll be there in a moment, I just want to find Miss Perkins.""Miss Perkins?""She's the animal I brought. It said we could bring an animal. Go on without me. I'll be there as soon as I find her.``

Shrugging his shoulders, Albus returned to leading Thomas over to Hagrid when another diversion interfered. `

"Well isn't that a sight to behold?" A snarled voice came out of the crowd. Its possessor walked through the crowd and in front of Albus. His cold ice blue eyes looked down at the two with a disgusted grin on his face. His dirty blonde hair was sleeked back with enough grease to fry a chicken but made his eyes stand out even more. With him, two other boys who were nearly twice his size stood side by side. One was built like an ox with face to match while other was long and slim with a slender face much like a weasel's. "Not only have Wesley's bred more but now they're uglier than ever!"

The boy spat his venom and snickered while his two goons laughed along. Angry, Albus and looked at the boy and let go of Thomas` hand. "Who do you think you are to insult my family like that!" He screamed at the blonde.

"And dumb too," the boy remarked. "I'm surprise you don't know who I am. I'm Scorpious Malfoy and until you graduate, I'm going to make your life a living hell."

"Why single me out of everyone else here? There's plenty of other students you can pick on so get out of my face and leave us alone," Albus was getting tired of this kid and wanted no more than to send him on his way. Scorpious inched closer, looking at Albus`freckled face with pure disgust before answering, "Call it a family tradition. " Looking over to Thomas, Scorpious pulled back and raised his eyebrow at the darker youth, "And who is this? You're BOYFRIEND?!" Thomas glared at Malfoy. Both boys were clenching their own fists to resist the urge to punch him. "My goodness, it's bad enough they let muggle born scum in here but gay ones too? Might as well colour the castle pink and made us wear dresses rather than robes!"

Thomas lunged at the boy, tackling him to the ground. A bunch of students stopped to watch the two boys struggle and fight each other until Hagrid made his way over there and broke the fight up."Come now! Come now! Dis ain`t no way to start the first year! Now break it up you two," he commanded and lifted both boys by the back of their shirts. Thomas panted and continued to glare at Malfoy, who was wiping the side of his face with the sleeve of his robe. "You'll pay for that," the blond shouted kicked in the air about, demanding to be put down or else he contact his father about the mistreatment of students by oversized half-breeds. Hagrid pulled the boy closer, looking at him straight in the eye, "You might want to behave or else you`re gonna get grounds duty for the rest of your school life. Ya `ear me?" Scorpious nodded and with that both boys were gently lowered back onto the ground. Hagrid looked down at Albus and smiled at him, "Ah, good to see you `ere, Albus! I hope you`re just as excited about your first year as your father was."

Albus shook his head enthusiastically before turning to Thomas, "Sorry about Tom's behaviour but that Malfoy was asking for it." Hagrid shrugged his shoulders and waved the incident aside, "Them Malloy's always cause a bit `o trouble or two." The giant looked back down to Thomas, who looked back at him. Silence fell over them as Hagrid leaned in to take a closer look of Thomas. Wide eyed and surprised, Thomas leaned back, the closer the large man came in. "You look awfully familiar," Hagrid whispered, stroking his bushy beard. "Are you related to the Trisberns by any chance?" Thomas shook his head. "The Cotsvires then?" Once more Thomas shook his head.

"Huh, I could have sworn I've seen someone who looked like you at this age." He grew silent for a moment but that was quickly shattered by his booming voice, "Never mind! First years! Follow me!"

As they started to move, Lenore ran up to them. "I couldn't find Miss Perkins," she said in a worried voice. "It's ok," Albus turned to her, "the crew probably already sent her up to the school with the rest of our luggage."

The sun had set by the time they had reached the pond and the shore was lit up with the lights of a hundred lamps at the front of a hundred boats. "Three students per boat," Hagrid commanded and aided any students who needed a hand getting in. Once three were in a boat, the giant sized man pushed them into the water and by some sort of magic, sent them across the water towards the school. Albus, Tom and Lenore set sail and looked up at the sight of the massive castle ahead of them, with every window light up by what appeared to be firelight. Against the night sky, the castle appeared to be a darker patch of sky with its own series of stars. Hagrid`s boat was the fastest of all them and was not leading the students despite the fact he was the last to board a vessel. Behind them, the three of them heard snickering and turned around to see what was making the noise. To Albus` disappointment, Scorpious and his goons were directly behind them and were shooting dirty looks at the trio as they jeered and made rather nasty comments to each other before giggling about what was just said. Thomas glared at Malloy's figure and Albus tapped him on the shoulder lightly. "Just forget about them. They're not worth our time." Turning their attention back on the castle Thomas let out a yelp which was followed by a loud splash. Lenore and Albus turned to find that Thomas was no longer in the boat with them and loud laughter was coming from Malloy's boat. Albus turned around to find Scorpious with his hand in hand and raising it high triumphantly. " You best go in and save your boyfriend! I hear there's mermaids in there and they can be rather nasty creatures. You two should actually fit in perfectly!" Acting upon anger, Albus pulled out his wand to hit Malfoy with some sort of spell with Lenore tugged at his sleeve. "Albus look!" she exclaimed and pointed out into the water where Thomas was splashing about on the surface. Thomas was behind them a few feet and splashing about madly. He had never been a strong swimmer but worse than that his arms was numb from the spell attack. "Hold on!" Albus shouted and leapt off the boat, diving straight into the water. He broke the surface and shook the water out of eyes before swimming towards Thomas. A third splash was heard and Lenore soon followed. Now empty, the boat stood still in the water. Reaching over, Albus grabbed Tom's shirt and waited for Lenore to reach them. She grabbed the other, together holding Tom's head and shoulders over the water to he could breathe. "Are you ok?" Lenore asked calmly when Albus interrupted her. "That git was trying to kill you!"

Thomas shook his head and answered, "I'm fine. My arm's just gone numb." Slowly, the three of them waddled back towards the boat when something caught the corner of Lenore's eye. "Did you guys see that?"

"See what`?"

"There!" She screamed and pointed out to Albus` left. He turned but saw nothing there.

"What did you see, Lenore?"

"I don't know. They looked like eyes."`

"Eyes?" Thomas looked about curiously, "why would you see eyes unless they were the reflection of stars."

"No, I swear I saw eyes!"

"Wait," Albus grew silent as a strange crackling sound began to grow, "do you hear that?"

"What is that?" Now Thomas was turning his head more than ever to see if he could make out what was creating the sounds.

"Didn't…" Albus whispered, "didn't`Malfoy said there were Mermaids in these water?"

"That's insane, why would mermaids want to attack-"

Suddenly a strong jerk pulled Thomas under the water, nearly making his slip out of their grasp. Lenore screamed his name as Albus` heart sank with fear but as soon as it happened, Thomas` broke surface and gasped for breath. "What was that!?"`

"Let's hurry out of the water before this gets serious!" Lenore exclaimed and they swam towards the boat as fast as possible.

Once inside, they gasped with exaughstion, dripping wet and cold.

"When I first get the chance, I'll humiliate the git," Thomas panted and ran a hand through his soaking wet hair. "Let's forget about that now," Albus looked up and took a deep breath. "We best catch up with the rest of the group or we'll miss everything and won't get sorted into our houses." The boat had begun to move once more on its own and headed towards the shoreline where all the other boats were lined up with not a soul remaining.


	4. The Great Divide

D: ack! Two chapters and still no reviews? T_T perhaps things other than Slash Fics have chances here. *referencing my YGO slash fics* Oh well. I shall continue writing it because I have so many ideas. Let's take bets to see if I'll make all seven years.

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The boat rocked to and fro once the front hit the shore. Quickly, and still dripping wet, the three of them leapt out of the boat and darted towards the massive doors which laid atop a flight of stone stairs. They were exhausted once they reached the top. Not only was the journey tiresome but having the extra weight of wet clothes holding them down didn't do them any better. Despite being tired, the three of them perused on and pushed on the large wooden doors yet no matter how hard they tried, they couldn`t get the thing to budge. "We're gonna be late!" Albus screamed and continued to push on the doors with all his might while Lenore and Thomas had already given up. "It's no use Al," Tom panted. "We've probably missed it by now."

Suddenly, the door budged open, catching all three of them by surprised.

"Dere you are!" Hagrid`s voice boomed with relief at the sight of them. "I was worried I had lost you guys and what you all wet for? Never mind that - `urry up! Da rest of da first years are already inside and the sorting hat ceremony is start`n already!" The massive man opened the door further, allowing the three to rush inside and run towards the great hall doors with Hagrid right behind them. Slowly, the three entered the great hall. The sound of the large doors opening echoed through the hall, interrupting the ceremony. Albus` cheeks flushed red with embarrassment with all the eyes peering at him and his friends for being late and disrupting everything. Hagrid closed the door behind him and waved at the headmaster, "It's alright McGonagall. I found them. Sorry about the intrusion."

The headmaster bowed her head, her pale face riddled with wrinkles and her grey hair was tied back in a tight bun with a few loose wisps of hair falling gently across her face and neck. Oval shaped spectacles rested on the tip of her nose as she looked over them. "Very good, Hagrid. Please take your seat so that we can continue," McGonagall spoke. Her voice was raspy and had a stern tone. Hagrid blushed a little and quickly made his way to the front of the great hall, more than likely heading towards the large chair at the edge of the row of professors that remained vacant. Professor McGonagall then turned her attention to a rather square built man who held in one hand a large sheet of parchment that extended from the floor to his hand and back to the floor once more while in the other a dawty and dirty old hat that was stitched together rather roughly and patches of scorch marks as if it was set on fire at some point. "You make continue Professor Longbottom."

Clearing his throat, Professor Longbottom started reading off the names once more. "Janis Marrow," he called out and a girl with a round face and brown hair stepped out of the crowd. Albus, Tom and Lenore watched curiously as the girl walked up the steps and approached the stool. As soon as she sat down, the professor placed the hat on the girl's head and it sprung to life, contorting itself to form a face as it thought about where to place the girl. Finally the hat yelled out, "Hufflepuff!" And the entire house table applauded and cheered at the decision. Albus was anxiously awaiting his turn when he heard low voices call his name. He looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that nearly his entire family had taken up seats at the corner closest to the front. He probably had the biggest family in all of Hogwarts with seats being taken up by his cousins, Victoria, Fred, Jar, and Rose as well as his older brother James. Teddy was there too, though he is not directly related to him, he's close enough to be considered a cousin. But Albus never did call Teddy cousin because the thought of having two of his cousins dating each other grossed him out.

Another name was called, "Lenore Louise Livelledelle Linnet."

Lenore approached the front and Tom leaned in to Albus, commenting how long and strange her name was to have all those L`s. "I hope she's in Gryffindor," he whispered back. "I know I'm going to be there. My entire family's there."

Professor Longbottom placed the hat on Lenore's head and the hat raised its non-existent eyebrow as it pondered about. "A crafty one usually means a quick and crafty mind," the hat spoke. "Ravenclaw!"

The Ravenclaw table erupted in cheers as Lenore stepped down and approached them. Albus sighed with disappointment to realize he was going to be in a separate house from Lenore but Tom patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We can always visit. Cheer up, we're going to be in the same house together." The two boys smiled at each other and anxiously waited for their turns. `

"Albus Severus Potter."

Albus` heart skipped a beat when he heard his name being called out and slowly, he left the crowd of remaining first years and approached the front. Many students cheered and applauded the calling of his name because of the fame his father's name carried. Professor McGonagall looked at the boy with a smile and glint in her eye as the young boy approached the stool. Albus turned to sit on the chair when he was stopped by Professor Longbottom who started to go beet red cheeks. "I'm very sorry, but it's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. Well… I've met you before but you were far too young to remember anything. I'm a good, good friend of your father's." Albus smiled at him and was startled when the thick man took his hand and violently shook it out of excitement. "Professor, I think that's enough. Please sort the boy," McGonagall spoke up with a stern voice, though you could tell she was trying her best to conceal some laughter.

"Oh, of course," Longbottom smiled and bowed his head before placing the hat on Albus` head. Once on his head, he could smell something very strange that made him think about what the stench might be. "I assure you," the hat whispered in his ear, "that the smell is nothing compared to what I've been through. Your father should know, young Potter." Albus nearly leapt out of his seat hearing the voice in his head but remained seated. "Well…," the hat said aloud for everyone to hear, "the house for you is a pure given. GRYFFENDOR!" The entire Gryffindor table screamed and cheered Albus on as he approached them and joined the rest of his family. Fred and Jar grabbed him aside and gave him a not so welcomed noogie while Hugo high fived him. James clapped with a small smile on his face, obviously unimpressed with the result and Rose nudged him for being rude. "Now we just have to wait for Tom to join us," Albus said as he sat down and turned to look at his friend. The dining hall was still roaring with cheers from the Gryffindor table and Professor Longbottom swelled with pride before looking over to McGonagall, who was giving him an impatient stare.

"Right right, Gryffindor. Calm down now," Longbottom told his house and shushed them into silence.

He began calling off names once more, as James leaned over the table to pat his brother on the head. "Welcome home," he said and sat back down.

"Scorpious Malfoy," the professor called out and the smirk blonde youth approached the stool. The hat was lowered and barely touched the boy's crown before screaming "SLYTHERIN!"

This was no surprise to anyone who knew the Malfoy family. Time passed and five were sent Ravenclaw, three to Gryffindor, six to Hufflepuff and four to Slytherin.

"I wonder when Tom is going to get called, Albus turned to the twins nervously.

"Don't worry-"

"I'm sure he'll be-"

"The next one-"

"To be called."

"Alright," Longbottom smiled at another happy student who ran towards their new house and turned to his list of names, getting nearer to the end. "Thomas Theodore-"

He stopped. Staring at the sheet, the colour in his face faded away. "Uh…" he stuttered and smiled out to the great hall, clearing his throat and licking his lips as if his mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"T-Thomas Theodore R-Riddle."

Albus applauded Tom's name being called out but soon found that he and Lenore were the only ones doing so. The great call remained silent, mostly because of how Professor Longbottom reacted over reading the name. Slowly, and feeling rather awkward, Thomas approached the front and made his way to the front. Albus watched him before he was nudged by Fred. "Hagrid don't look so good," he whispered and pointed out how the giant man's face was just as flushed and in shock as Longbottom`s. The only difference was that his skin matched the streaks of white in his beard.

Thomas sat down on the stood and waited for the hat to be placed on his head. He waited and waited before looking over at the Professor, with a puzzled look about the delay in action. "Professor?" Tom spoke up, snapping the professor out of it. "Ah..s-sorry," the man stuttered and, with a shaking hand, placed the sorting hat on his head. The hat remained immobile. It did not speak, nor moved the creases of its face. Albus watched intently, realizing the hat must be having a conversation with Thomas like he had experienced earlier. Tom's eyes widened and his mouth parted in shock. His lips mouthed the word no over and over until the hat's eyes rose with dread and leaned forward, as if apologizing.

"SLYTHERIN!"


	5. Snakes and Lions

Holy shit a review!! *reads it over and over again* I would personally like to thank RL for his/her review. Just that alone inspired me to continue writing the fifth chapter. Chapter 1 was broken up because I realized how intimidating it must have looked in terms of its length. I would also like to thank my Night Staff at Dairy Queen for helping brainstorm new found Potions to be the hardest because Snape could never be replaced *sniff*

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His first night there was an unpleasant one. Albus couldn't help but let his mind repeat what had happened in the great hall. The look on Professor Longbottom's face when he called out Tom's name was unexpected and the strange silence that filled the entire room was chilling. But even more peculiar was how the hat, a very talkative object, carried on that silence. Slytherin. The words rolled over his lips numerous times during the night, in disbelief.

Morning had arrived and the hall was alive once more with voices of hundreds of students. The four large tables supplied a bountiful breakfast to fit all unique tastes. The twins were playing tricks as always with their friends, seeing who could who could out prank the other before the first class. In their first year, the twins were the sole pranksters of the school until their fame exploded. Two years later, they had formed a group of eight master pranksters called Anansi, who is always being blamed and losing their houses points. It was hard for the students to either like them or hate them but they didn't care. They were simply there.

James had sat down besides him, and slowly picked away at his oatmeal.

"Slytherin, huh," James spoke up, pushing chunks of apples to the side of the bowl before shoving a spoonful into his mouth. Albus grunted, having his brother of all people remind him of what happened.

"Bad people go to Slytherin," the older brother whispered and taking another bite.

"He's not bad." Albus didn't want to snap at his brother but he was pushing it.

"Then why was he sent to Slytherin? Of all the houses, the hat picked that one." Reaching over the table, James grabbed a pitcher and poured milk over his remaining oatmeal.

Albus didn't reply. Staring at his toast and eggs, he picked away at the broken yolks. Why had Thomas been sent there? Was there a side to him that he didn't know about that the hat could see? Was it possible to know someone for nearly half your life and not know anything about them at all?

His thoughts were interrupted when a voice behind him called out his name.

Albus tuned around and found himself face to face with a rather disgruntled Thomas, his face and hands were covered in purple splotches.

"What happened to you?" Albus asked him before noticing the plateful of pancakes in his hands.

"Malfoy happened. Can I eat breakfast here with you?"

James grunted and quickly finished his meal before getting up and leaving the table. Albus knew what that sound was, and he glared at his brother. "I don't care if you're in Slytherin! You're still my friend," Albus shouted towards his brother as he headed towards the doors of the Great Hall.

Confused, Thomas raised an eyebrow and looked at Albus, then to James' back and returning to Albus. "Was that a yes?"

Taking James' seat, Thomas placed his plate down as soon as James' empty bowl disappeared from the table, leaving the spot vacant.

"So what did Malfoy do to you.""I think he spiked my pumpkin juice last night because when I went to bed, I noticed little red spots. I thought it was a rash or something but it turned into this.""Does it hurt?""No. It just makes me look stupid."The two sat in silence for a moment, devouring their breakfasts. The other Gryffindor were looking over and giving the two boys strange looks. Though it's happened with other tables, students coming over to visit their friends who were placed in different houses, never before had a Slytherin joined a Gryffindor.

The feeling of having so many eyes on them was testing their nerves, but no more than Thomas. Finally, the boy snapped and spoke up, startling Albus a little.

"Oh for bloody sakes! Have none of you got anything better to do than GAWK at us?"

Martian Nummetz, a third year with dark skin, black eyes and had his hair wound in tight dreadlocks, shot out of his seat and yelled back, "If you don't like being stared at then go back to your table. You should know that Slytherins' don't belong anywhere else other than their own household!"

"Actually, I believe everyone has the right to visit whomever they want to." Lenore appeared behind Martin and smiled at him. "Of course, if you truly believe that students of other houses should not be near each other, then the Anansi group is in big trouble. With…two of you from Hufflepuff, four from Gryffindor and the other two from Ravenclaw. Isn't that right?"

Martin shut his mouth and had gone quiet before sitting back down. The twins patted him on the back before grabbing a muffin each.

"Thanks Lenore," Albus sighed. Despite her drowsy appearance, she was quiet aware of her surroundings.

She walked over and stood between Thomas and Albus as she took out a piece of paper, "So what classes do you guys have today?"

The two boys both reached into their pockets at the same time, nearly forgetting about classes and unfolded the parchment.

Albus looked over his and his eyes nearly popped out of his head discovering just exactly how many classes there were. "I have Trans…Trans…"

"Transfiguration," Lenore smiled. "Same here. I have that class with you I believe."Right again. The Gryffindor had Transfiguration classes with Ravenclaw students, as well in two other classes. He had two classes with Hufflepuff and two classes, back to back with Slytherin.

"I guess we'll have to wait before you and I can be in class together," Thomas sighed and gobbled up the last piece of his syrup covered pancake. "We both end with Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions."

Lenore tapped Albus on the shoulder and leaned in, "We should get going if we don't want to be late for Transfiguration."

Albus nodded took another sip of his pumpkin juice before getting up. He turned to Thomas, who was getting ready to leave as well, and looked at him once more.

"What?"

"You didn't have to shout. You could have just ignored their stares," Albus commented but Thomas huffed and threw his bag over his shoulder.

"They have no right to stare anyways."

"I'm just saying you didn't have to be so mean.""Yeah, well sometimes it's the only way to get your point across."

They left the Great Hall and Thomas waved as he separated from Lenore and Albus. Walking down the corridor, Albus still couldn't help but notice how Tom reacted.

"Maybe he does belong in Slytherin.""Would you have acted any differently?"

Albus chose not to reply.


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